The outcry alarmed the watch, who came up immediately, and finding a Christian beating a Mussulmaun (for hump-back was of our religion), “What reason have you,” said he, “to abuse a Mussulmaun in this manner?” “He would have robbed me,” replied the merchant, “and jumped upon my back in order to take me by the throat.”  “If he did,” said the watch, “you have revenged yourself sufficiently; come, get off him.”  At the same time he stretched out his hand to help little hump-back up, but observing he was dead, “Oh!” said he, “is it thus that a Christian dares to assassinate a Mussulmaun?” So saying, he laid hold of the Christian, and carried him to the house of the officer of the police, where he was kept till the judge was stirring, and ready to examine him.  In the mean time, the Christian merchant became sober, and the more he reflected upon his adventure, the less could he conceive how such slight blows of his fist could have killed the man.

The judge having heard the report of the watch, and viewed the corpse, which they had taken care to bring to his house, interrogated the Christian merchant, who could not deny the crime, though he had not committed it.  But the judge considering that little hump-back belonged to the sultan, for he was one of his buffoons, would not put the Christian to death till he knew the sultan’s pleasure.  For this end he went to the palace, and acquainted the sultan with what had happened; and received this answer:  “I have no mercy to show to a Christian who kills a Mussulmaun.”  Upon this the judge ordered a stake to be prepared, and sent criers all over the city to proclaim that they were about to impale a Christian for killing a Mussulmaun.

At length the merchant was brought to the place of execution; and the executioner was about to do his duty, when the sultan’s purveyor pushed through the crowd, calling to him to stop for that the Christian had not committed the murder, but he himself had done it.  Upon that, the officer who attended the execution began to question the purveyor, who told him every circumstance of his having killed the little hunchback, and how he had conveyed his corpse to the place where the Christian merchant had found it.  “You were about,” added he, “to put to death an innocent person; for how can he be guilty of the death of a man who was dead before he touched him?  It is enough for me to have killed a Mussulmaun without loading my conscience with the death of a Christian who is not guilty.”

The sultan of Casgar’s purveyor having publicly charged himself with the death of the little hunchbacked man, the officer could do no less than execute justice on the merchant.  “Let the Christian go,” said he to the executioner, “and impale this man in his stead, since it appears by his own confession that he is guilty.”  Thereupon the executioner released the merchant, and seized the purveyor; but just as he was going to impale him, he heard the voice of the Jewish doctor, earnestly intreating him to suspend the execution, and make room for him to approach.